Northern amateur football clubs take steps to reduce on-field violence

NORTHERN amateur football clubs are imposing in-house suspensions and threatening to deregister players in a bid to clean up on-field violence .

NORTHERN amateur football clubs are imposing in-house suspensions, threatening to deregister players and forcing umpire abusers to officiate games in a bid to clean up on-field violence and reduce reports.

The push comes as an SA Amateur Football League report released this month shows five northern clubs ranked among the top six offenders in 2013 for on-field incidents.

Elizabeth Vale-based Central United had a league-high 10 "category A" reports last season, racking up a total of 36 games, including one life ban.

Salisbury North also had one of its players banned for life from the league among eight suspensions totalling 35 games.

Elizabeth (four reports, 25 games), Smithfield (four reports, 24 games) and Eastern Park (three reports, 19 games) also ranked in the top six.

Former Eastern Park president Bill Wells said his club had doubled league-imposed penalties for its players over the past two seasons and was now issuing last-chance warnings.

"You've got to clean up your image," said Wells, who stepped down from the role last month.

"In our club now there are players who if they're in trouble again next year will probably be deregistered from the club."

Incoming Eastern Park president Damien Griffiths said the club removed a couple of "bad eggs" this year and wanted an incident-free season in 2014.

"The club's not going to put up with crap, we'll send players on their way," Griffiths said.

Salisbury West football director Shane Tomko said his club was punishing players who abused umpires by making them officiate games without pay.

Three players will become the first at the division four club to face the punishment at the start of next season despite them not being cited by the league.

"If you punish them by just suspending them for a game they can sit on the sideline and have a beer," Tomko said.

"By getting them out there and umpiring for free, they're still involved with the club but they're still being punished."

Tomko said his club had also doubled league-imposed suspensions over the past two seasons.

Elizabeth president Mick Platten said the division five club would read the riot act to its playing group before the start of the next season because "all teams are under scrutiny".

But Platten said local clubs were sometimes "tarred with the same brush" if a northern rival landed in hot water.

SAAFL football operations manager John Kernahan said three or four clubs, which he would not name, were going to be put on notice.

"If the frequency of their reports continue in 2014, they will be held to account for that," Kernahan said.

He said the league would also be running workshops focusing on code of conduct for all clubs.